Taking their share

'Cats get piece of MVAL Antietam title

'Cats get piece of MVAL Antietam title

SMITHSBURG - With standout 130-pounder Todd Judd out of the Williamsport wrestling team's lineup with a hand injury, the Wildcats' Peter Smith had the weight of the MVAL Antietam crown on his shoulders Wednesday night against conference rival Smithsburg.

The crown felt much lighter on his head less than two minutes later.

Smith pinned Wes McKenen with 1.6 seconds left in the first period in the next-to-last bout of the night at 125 to secure No. 6 Williamsport's 42-35 victory over Smithsburg and a share of the MVAL Antietam title.

"I had to do it for my team. I was all we had left," Smith said. "I had to go out there and get it. Once I had him close to his back, I just had to finish it.

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"I was just hoping the clock wouldn't run out."

Smith's pin gave the Wildcats a 42-29 lead. Smithsburg's Logan Miss won by forfeit in the final bout at 130.

Williamsport (14-8) and No. 7 North Hagerstown (8-3) - a 49-30 winner over Boonsboro on Wednesday - each finished its conference schedule with a 5-1 record and a piece of the title. The Wildcats' lone loss was to Catoctin, while the Hubs' came against Williamsport. There are no tiebreakers.

"Sharing it is better than not having it at all," Rechtorovic said. "And we did beat North head-to-head so we can take some solace in that."

Smithsburg (6-13, 1-4) made the visiting Wildcats come from behind to gain a share of the title the Leopards won outright last season. Through six of the 14 bouts Wednesday, Smithsburg led, 20-12.

Williamsport's heavyweights then took control as Drew Williams (189), Ian Hamilton (215) and Rob Shawley (275) each pinned his opponent in less than a minute to put the Wildcats in front for good at 30-20.

Jeff Poffenberger pinned Aaron Buechling in 41 seconds at 103 to keep the Leopards alive, cutting the deficit to 30-26 with four bouts left.

"Our 103-pounder went out and did the move he needed to do to keep us in it," Smithsburg coach Joe Dietrich said. "When we got the pin at 103, I thought we definitely had a shot."

But Mark Mayo, who came up from Williamsport's JV team, made it a long shot, pinning James Creamer in 33 seconds at 112 for a 36-26 Wildcats advantage.

The Leopards' James Reilley then edged Earl Neville 5-3 at 119 to make it a 36-29 match, setting up the Smith-McKenen finale.

Each team won seven bouts. All of Williamsport's victories were pins.

Jesse Duvall (135) and Jimmy Fiorita (152) also had pins for the Wildcats.

For Smithsburg, Tyler Scott came back from a 7-0 second-period deficit at 140 to pin Codi Trumpower in 3:23 in a pivotal early bout, Justin Hovermale pinned Justin Bussard in 14 seconds for the night's quickest fall at 160, Brandon Knight teched out Tony Fidler 17-2 in 4:07 and Dan Rinebolt gave the Leopards their biggest lead of the night at 20-12, beating Lake McDonald 10-6 at 171.